X-Git-Url: http://jsfdemo.indexdata.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fbook.xml;h=fff249aed4e8969a7ed422b6cead0ffa5c600eeb;hb=9efb0a65b0137e1b92ad4223dd6457b94cd8cd50;hp=d9394b5193ac76019bfbecc9cee52791737ad048;hpb=cc29eab9f928f6cd0f4231cb2e554e2ac7b0b1f3;p=pazpar2-moved-to-github.git diff --git a/doc/book.xml b/doc/book.xml index d9394b5..fff249a 100644 --- a/doc/book.xml +++ b/doc/book.xml @@ -9,13 +9,16 @@ %common; ]> - + Pazpar2 - User's Guide and Reference SebastianHammer + + AdamDickmeiss + &version; ©right-year; @@ -333,7 +336,7 @@
- Client development + Client development overview You can use pazpar2 from any environment that allows you to use webservices. The initial goal of the software was to support @@ -359,6 +362,74 @@ can be fetched using the 'record' command.
+ +
+ Connecting to non-standard resources + + Pazpar2 uses Z39.50 as its switchboard language -- i.e. as far as it + is concerned, all resources speak Z39.50. It is, however, equipped + to handle a broad range of different server behavior, through + configurable query mapping and record normalization. If you develop + configuration, stylesheets, etc., for a new type of resources, we + encourage you to share your work. But you can also use pazpar2 to + connect to hundreds of resources that do not support standard + protocols. + + + + For a growing number of resources, Z39.50 is all you need. Over the + last few years, a number of commercial, full-text resources have + implemented Z39.50. These can be used through pazpar2 with little or + no effort. Resources that use non-standard record formats will + require a bit of XSLT work, but that's all. + + + + But what about resources that don't support Z39.50 at all? The NISO + SRU (MXG) protocol is slowly gathering steam. Other resources might + support OpenSearch, private, XML/HTTP-based protocols, or something + else entirely. Some databases exist only as web user interfaces and + will require screen-scraping. Still others exist only as static + files, or perhaps as databases supporting the OAI-PMH protocol. + There is hope! Read on. + + + + Index Data continues to advocate the support of open standards. We + work with database vendors to support standards, so you don't have + to worry about programming against non-standard services. We also + provide tools (see SimpleServer) + which make it comparatively easy to build gateways against servers + with non-standard behavior. Again, we encourage you to share any + work you do in this direction. + + + + But the bottom line is that working with non-standard resources in + metasearching is really, really hard. If you want to build a + project with pazpar2, and you need access to resources with + non-standard interfaces, we can help. We run gateways to more than + 2,000 popular, commercial databases and other resources, making it simple + to plug them directly into pazpar2. For a small annual fee per + database, we can help you establish connections to your licensed + resources. Meanwhile, you can help! If you build your own + standards-compliant gateways, host them for others, or share the + code! And tell your vendors that they can save everybody money and + increase the appeal of their resources by supporting standards. + + + + There are those who will ask us why we are using Z39.50 as our + switchboard langyage rather than a different protocol. Basically, + we believe that Z39.50 is presently the most widely implemented + information retrieval protocol that has the level of functionality + required to support a good metasearching experience (structured + searching, structured, well-defined results). It is also compact and + efficient, and there is a very broad range of tools available to + implement it. + +
@@ -378,7 +449,7 @@ Pazpar2, - Copyright © 2006-2007 Index Data. + Copyright © ©right-year; Index Data.